Excessive pride in my hitherto unlimited intake ability received its long overdue comeuppance when the Edinburgh Fringe program landed on my desk today with a thud... 216 pages in FT-microscopic type. My original plan of four days for the EIF proper *and* the Fringe suddenly looks utterly ridiculous. Within just 4-26 August, Fringe 2002 offers over 20,000 performances of 1,500 shows. That's more than enough, even for me, ready as I am to take in "Jerry Springer" and "Parsifal" the same day. In the Fringe music category alone (while theater remains the leading genre by far), there are scores of attractive/promising/"unusual" items, besides "Springer": * "Figaro's," by Company of Ten, "A cocktail-shaking musical based on the Mozart opera. The story takes place in a London nightclub where nothing is quite what it seems. Lechery and two-timing have never been so entertaining." * "Le Nozze" proper, by Palace Opera. * Sondheim's "Assassins," "Merrily We Roll Along" and "Side by Side." * "5678 - Angel Kitty" - Death lurks in the London School of Performing Arts, doing away with "Fame!" types. * "Dido and Aeneas" in a concert with other Purcell works and contemporary music. * Who but the Swiss - "William Tell, a Musical," performed by the Swiss Church Music School of London * Southside Productions' "Anonimo Napoletano" - "a Scottish woman, a Neapolitan man, incapable of telling each other's love, they rely on an interpreter, arbiter of their destiny. Featuring Neapolitan music, drama, suspense, fantasy and a surprising ending." [I bet.] *"Bollywood Nights" - "A retrospective of one of Hindi Cinemas biggest and brightest stars Shah Rukh Khan - Asoka (16/8), Devdas (17/8) premiered at Cannes this year, Dilwale Dulhania Le Jaayenge (23/8), and, to celebrate Shah Rukh's visit to Edinburgh, he will be introducing Kabhi Khushi Kabhi Gham - 3KG - at George Square Theatre on 24th August." [While I am missing out on Ali Akbar Khan in Marin...:(] * A Sing-It Yourself "Carmen," produced by Bohemians/Waverly Care. Come to Mayfield Salisbury at 2 p.m. to learn a role, perform at 7:30. Hey! It worked for "Messiah." * Two shows about Jenny Lind - "Queen Victoria's Songbird" and "The Nightingale at Song," both by Rhonda Bachmann and Peter Gellhorn. Janos Gereben/SF [log in to unmask]